Two bodies and one arrest in hunt for missing woman Sian O’Callaghan

Hopes of finding the missing personal assistant Sian O'Callaghan alive were dashed last night as police announced they had arrested a man on suspicion of murder and had been shown the location of two bodies.

Hopes of finding the missing personal assistant Sian O'Callaghan alive were dashed last night as police announced they had arrested a man on suspicion of murder and had been shown the location of two bodies.

After a dramatic day in which officers swooped on a local taxi driver outside a supermarket, Wiltshire Police revealed they had charged a 47-year-old man with two counts of murder and one count of kidnap. Although the bodies have yet to be formally identified, detectives confirmed one of the victims was thought to be Sian.

Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher made the announcement at a sombre Press conference yesterday evening. Earlier in the day police had expressed hope that they would still find the 22-year-old alive, but now they are confronting a double murder inquiry.

“A 47-year-old man from Swindon is in custody, having been arrested for kidnap and two murders,” Mr Fulcher said.

“The location of two bodies have been identified to me by this individual, one of whom has yet to be identified formally, but I am quite clear is Sian.

“I have informed Sian's family, who are obviously deeply distressed, and I would ask you to give them time and space to come to terms with what's happened.”

It is believed the bodies were found near the village of Uffington, the location of a prehistoric white horse hillside carving.

The arrest at 11am yesterday came just hours after detectives put out a fresh appeal to locate a green Toyota Avensis estate with taxi markings that was seen near the Savernake Forest at the time of Sian's disappearance.

She was last seen leaving a Swindon nightclub in the early hours of Saturday morning. Mobile phone records placed her in the forest 34 minutes after leaving Suju nightclub, leading police to conclude that she must have been driven there.

Police arrested the taxi driver at the entrance to an Asda supermarket in north Swindon.